Dear Senator: Taxpayers for Common Sense Action (TCS Action) applauds Senators Charles Grassley (R-IA) and Senator Norm Coleman (R-MN) for introducing the Government Credit Card Abuse
Prevention Act. TCS Action urges you to support the legislation’s common sense measures to curb government waste. Facing a massive federal deficit, every dollar counts. It is high time Congress insists that federal agencies exercise full accountability and transparency in their spending.
A series of Government Accountability Office (GAO) reports have documented numerous instances of purchasing abuse across multiple agencies. These range from purchasing unauthorized materials to fraudulent “purchases of personal items such as jewelry, designer leather goods, clothing, stereo equipment, food, and entertainment.” According to the GAO, strengthening currently weak controls and pursuing more aggressive disciplinary action could save hundreds of millions of dollars. The Government Credit Card Abuse Act directs agencies to take responsibility for the use of government issued purchase and travel cards, and directs agencies to ferret out instances of misconduct instead of turning a blind eye to a growing pattern of waste, fraud, and abuse.
With hundreds of thousands of government credit cards already issued and an increasing reliance on purchase and travel cards, the chances of this type of fraudulent and improper conduct is only likely to rise. The Grassley-Coleman Act will provide the necessary oversight, policies, and procedures to protect taxpayers from paying the price in the future.
Again, TCS Action strongly urges you to support the Grassley-Coleman Government Credit Card Abuse Prevention Act. For more information, please contact Franz Matzner at (202) 546-8500 x127 or email
Sincerely,
Jill Lancelot
President & Co-founder
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